Cole for Christmas
by SakuraRyuu28
Summary: Kagome oversteps her boundaries, and Inuyasha is forced to reel her back in.


Title: Cole for Christmas

Genre: Friend, Family, Hurt, Comfort

Rating: G

Characters: Inuyasha/Kagome

Author's Note: Inuyasha and all characters in this fan fiction are the property of Rumiko Takahashi.

A/N 2: Written for RainFlame07 as part of Eternal Destiny's Secret Santa 2012.

"We're home!" Kagome joyfully called from the entryway of the house. Kicking the door closed behind her she crossed her left arm over her right to toss her keys on the small table by the door. Tugging at the leash in her left hand she kicked off her shoes and wiggled out of her gray pea coat, leaving it lay in a heap on the floor.

Inuyasha had fallen asleep on the couch waiting for her return. It was early twilight out, and a chill had gripped the air in the house. Upon hearing Kagome yell through the house his eyes popped open, and his ears perked up instantly at the clacking sound on the hardwood floor and unusual panting.

"_Oh, she didn't,"_ was his first conscious thought. He closed his eyes to count to ten. Without warning Inuyasha was suddenly assaulted by a huge, wet tongue across the side of his face. "Oh, my god!" He jerked up, grabbing onto the back of the couch with his left hand, and wiping his face off on the sleeve of his right arm.

"Inuyasha! I see you've met Cole! Isn't he wonderful?!" Kagome stood at the end of the couch clearly very pleased with herself. She clapped her hands together and bounced, her wavy, dark ponytail swinging behind her head.

"What is it?" Surely this couldn't be the dog they had talked about getting. This horse was huge! Much bigger than the 15-pound variety dogs they had talked about getting from the animal shelter Kagome worked at. Inuyasha sat up on the couch and barked out, "Sit!" to which the dog immediately dropped his hindquarters.

Sitting on the floor the dog was almost as tall as Inuyasha was while sitting on the couch. He looked rather gangly, reminding Inuyasha of a teenager who had recently shot up and hadn't grown into himself yet. He had an interesting, steel blue color to him, and he looked like he was nothing but bone and muscle. The dog had to be at least 100 pounds and didn't look much more than a grown up puppy. He had floppy ears, and Inuyasha had to admit, a rather loving look on his face. He could see why Kagome was won over, but he wasn't having it. Standing up, Cole stood as well, moving to the side.

Standing in front of her in his dark jeans and white socks, he crossed his arms over his grey sweater and looked at his girlfriend. "Kagome, he's way bigger than we talked about. We had agreed to go together so this wouldn't happen."

Looking contrite, she responded, "I know, but when he was finally released for adoption I just _had_ to get him. I knew no one else would and he's so sweet. He's really smart, too. You told him to sit, and he did, just like that! Imagine all the other tricks we could teach him!" He could see this conversation was in danger of derailment from her exuberance.

"That's not the point. We don't have room for a pony-sized dog. He's too big, Kagome, and our place isn't big enough. He's either going to have to live outside or he's going back." There. He had put his foot down.

"We can't put him outside! He's priceless! Do you know how much a dog like him would cost?" Kagome was indignant at the idea of her new best friend living outside in the dirt. And if anyone saw him they would surely steal him. "Inuyasha, he's a _Great Dain_. He's purebred, a perfect blue color, and he comes with _papers_."

Unimpressed, Inuyasha replied, "I don't care if he comes with a book, he has got to go. We would have to move in order to keep him in the house."

"Then we'll move." Kagome looked him straight in the face and lost all sense of reality.

Inuyasha was very familiar with that tone. Kagome had just clicked over from "reasonably pleading" to "dead stop stubborn." He could have smacked himself in the forehead. Instead he ran his hands over his face, then placed them on his hips, ready for battle.

"No, we won't. It's weeks from Christmas, it's cold as Hell outside, we are locked into this place for another…" Inuyasha did the quick math in his head. "Four months, it's too dangerous out to drive a moving truck, no one will help us move in this weather or at this time of year, it's too expensive to hire someone to move us, and we're saving up for a house." She still looked at him straight faced. "He'll eat us out of house and home, not to mention what a vet will cost for a dog this size! Come on, Kagome! Be reasonable!" He was all but pleading now for her to reconsider her decision.

"I'm not taking him back, and I'm not putting him outside in the cold to freeze or be stolen. I adopted him and that means he's mine until he dies." Turning sharply on her heal she strode toward the bedroom door. Snapping her fingers Cole stood and trailed behind her, the red lead to his red collar dragging across the floor behind him. Reaching the door she and Cole went into the room, and she slammed it behind her. The last thing Inuyasha saw was that horse jumping up into his bed.

Yelling, "Keep him out of my bed!" Inuyasha flopped back onto the couch, and stared at the ceiling.

Not sure how long he sat there, he was pulled from his reverie by the feel of his phone vibrating in his pocket. He didn't even have to look at the number to know who it was.

"Is she still talking to her or has she hung up yet?"

"They're still talking. It must be really bad." For a minute Inuyasha imagined there was real sympathy in Miroku's voice. He let out a long sigh.

"You know how we talked about getting a dog? A _small_ dog? She came home with a pony-sized dog instead. He's at least 100 pounds and as tall as me when we're both sitting down. Our place just isn't big enough for a dog that size and won't be for a long while, not to mention the expense. I told her he had to go back or go outside. She said no to both and stormed off to the bedroom. I saw that beast jump into my bed before she slammed the door." He put his hand over his eyes.

"You're going to have to let her keep the dog. You know that. Why even bother fighting?" Miroku had no doubt the woman Inuyasha lived with tried his nerves, as all women did. Sango was great, but even she had her moments.

"I didn't even want a dog. She at least got me to give in on a 15 pounder, and she brought home this beast. She just does whatever all the time. That's the point." He got up and paced the living room, stopping at the end of the hallway to listen for any noises from his room.

"Good luck with that." Miroku knew all about that situation.

"Yeah, I'm gonna go. Catch you later, man."

"You bet." They hung up, Inuyasha headed to his room. Grabbing the knob he swung the door open, only to see Kagome on the bed snuggled up to Cole. He was instantly mad.

"I said I didn't want him in my bed." He stalked over and grabbed the dog by his collar, yanking him out from under Kagome's arm.

"Don't! You'll hurt him!" Cole just lay there like a slug, refusing to budge.

"Are you kidding me? He won't budge!" Inuyasha let go, and the dog flopped back onto the mattress with a harrumph.

Kagome instantly gathered Cole back to her, running her hands over his ears. She settled her head back down on her folded arm, cooing to the dog.

"Kagome, we need to talk about this dog. We just can't keep him." He was hoping she had calmed down enough, but he should have known better by the way she was babying Cole.

"There's nothing to talk about if that's all you want to say." Kagome didn't even look at him. Just the back of Cole's head as he began to snore and twitch.

"What is your problem?! Why are you being so stubborn about this?" He just didn't get it. Sure he knew Kagome could be stubborn if she really wanted, but this was even beyond her.

"Look, Inuyasha, there are some things I take very seriously. When you adopt a pet it's permanent. It's not until you get home and your boyfriend decides he has to go. It's a lifetime commitment. I know he isn't what we agreed on, but I couldn't let him get away. Something about the look in his eyes spoke to me and I couldn't let him go. He needed me." Kagome spoke softly as she continued to stroke Cole's ears. He started yipping in his sleep.

"Fine." He turned and slammed the door behind him, causing Cole to twitch.

Stepping into his shoes he grabbed his keys off the table by the door, and left. Almost running down the stairs he jogged to his Jeep and hopped in. Not wanting to be around anyone he went to Kagome's family shrine and sat up in the branches of Goshinboku. He knew they would find him eventually because he was a creature of habit, but he hoped they would stay away for a while. He needed time to think.

Hours went by and Inuyasha came up with nothing. He knew Kagome was going to keep the dog and there was nothing he could do about it. His problem wasn't even the dog. The real issue was how she just went and did whatever she wanted and expected him to just deal with her decisions.

Hopping out of the tree Inuyasha walked toward the shrine steps that led to his Jeep below. Looking toward the house he could see Mrs. Higurashi smiling at him from one of the downstairs, front windows. He smiled, and then disappeared down the steps.

Once home he tossed his keys on the door side table and slid out of his boots. He picked up Kagome's coat and hung it in the closet next to his. Walking toward the bedroom he opened the door quietly, peering inside the dark room. He could see Kagome asleep on the bed; Cole still curled up beside her. Even though it was a king sized bed, his legs still hung off the side. Inuyasha shook his head and smiled. He walked over to Kagome's side of the bed and shook her gently.

"Hey, wake up. We need to talk." He sat down on the edge of the bed and looked at her.

She groaned, and then rolled away from the dog. Reaching for the bedside table she turned on the light. Rubbing her eyes she slid scooched up the bed until she was leaning against the headboard with her hands crossed over her chest. "What's up?"

"The problem isn't the dog. The problem is how you just do whatever you want, and expect me to deal with it. We had a deal and you went against it. You could have said something to me about him and we could have worked something out, but instead you did what you wanted, brought him home, and it caused a huge fight."

"Inuyasha, we would have fought about it anyway. You would have seen him and told me no, and we would have fought because I would have wanted him and you wouldn't." She looked at him like he was an idiot.

"That's probably true, but at least then I would have had a choice. And you probably could have persuaded me and ended up with him anyway. We could have avoided this whole mess for a completely different one that could have been easier to deal with." Inuyasha looked at her, unsure if he was getting through her thick head.

"Maybe you're right." She sat in the bed looking at her hands fidgeting in her lap.

"Maybe not. But you can't keep doing whatever you want and expecting me to be ok with it. If you can't keep your word when we make an agreement, then I can't trust you. Is that really the way you want things to be? Because I can't be with you if it is." And there it was. Inuyasha wasn't trying to give her an ultimatum, just simply trying to make a point.

"Ok, I understand. I'll try to be better." Kagome looked up at Inuyasha while still keeping her head bowed low.

"Don't try, just do it." Inuyasha took her hand and held it. Reaching over he patted Cole's head "I guess he'll be ok. We'll make due." Cole opened his eyes and gave Inuyasha's hand a lazy lick. "But he is not sleeping in my bed." And with that Inuyasha gave a shove, Cole landing gracefully on his feet.


End file.
